"Football is not in a crisis, only some difficulties," says Sepp Blatter

Oh dear, as usual FIFA's President Sepp Blatter cannot see the wood for the trees.

This Wednesday FIFA will select its new President, however, there is now only one candidate, that is the current controversial President, one Joseph Sepp Blatter.

His opponent and the only rival candidate - Mohamed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) - pulled out having been suspended by Fifa's own ethics committee over allegations that financial incentives were offered to Caribbean Football Union members.

So, on Saturday there was a Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) press conference in Zurich, but only one person was present, El Presidente Blatter himself - you can see it here.

From BBC Sport:

"Football is not in a crisis, only some difficulties," said the Fifa president.

President Blatter brushed off suggestions, from the British government among others, that Wednesday's presidential election - for which he is the only candidate - should be suspended.

"If governments try to intervene then something is wrong," he said.

"I think Fifa is strong enough that we can deal with our problems inside Fifa."

Blatter then went on to discuss Saturday's Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United, played at Wembley stadium as an example of the sport's strength and insisted there would be no re-run of the controversial vote for the 2022 World Cup.

"If you see the final match of the Champions League you must applaud," he said.

"We are not in a crisis. We are only in some difficulties and these will be solved inside our family."

I am really sorry but this guy is on another planet, he also thinks that Wednesday's Presidential election should proceed despite the fact that he is now the only candidate, and is covered in controversy himself.
As well as Governments around the world getting involved, now the sponsors are wading in on the accusations and arguments that are surrounding FIFA, earlier today, two of Fifa's largest sponsors - Coca-Cola and Adidas - expressed concern at the widely publicised in-fighting.

"The current allegations being raised are distressing and bad for the sport," said a Coca-Cola spokesperson.

"We have every expectation that Fifa will resolve this situation in an expedient and thorough manner."

An Adidas spokesman said: "The negative tenor of the public debate around Fifa at the moment is neither good for football nor for Fifa and its partners."

FIFAs Vice President, Jack Warner is now mired in controversy himself.

This constant stream of rows, accusations of fraud, corruption and controversy divert away from what FIFA should be representing, grassroots football.

One line of their mission statement did make me laugh - Our core values of authenticity, unity, performance and integrity are at the very heart of who we are.


If Sepp Blatter believed any of the words above then he would suspend the Presidential election immediately, resign, ensure the Executive Committee also resigned to clear all of the allegations and then run new elections for President and Executive Committee - where no-one accused of any corruption or wrong doing should re-stand.

To read an alternative view, read G's spot - FIFA’s mafia family goes to war.